2012 Nissan GT-R Reviews

Two decades ago Jim Richards and Mark Skaife famously thumbed their noses at Aussie fans’ jibes after winning their second and final outright victory in the Bathurst 1000 in a Nissan GT-R Skyline.Since then the GT-R, which Nissan claims is the world’s most affordable supercar, has continued to take it up to the sportscar elites costing an arm, and often a leg as well, more.Now the Japanese auto maker has dropped off its latest GT-R in Australia with a bargain-basement price of $170,800. Just what does the buyer get for his or her buck?Well, there’s the powertrain for a start. The engine pumps out more power than its predecessor, while at the same time using less fuel and producing fewer emissions; transmission shift feel has been improved and specially prepared race tuned oils are used in the differential. Equipment levels have been increased and there’s a fascinating new suspension setup.The heart (and soul) of the new GT-R is, of course, the engine, which now puts out 404 kW (540 horsepower) at 6400 rpm, as opposed to 390 kW previously, while maximum torque has gone up from 612 Nm to 628 Nm between 3200 and 5800 revs. Fuel use is cut from 12.0 to 11.7 litres per kilometre, says Nissan.Each 3.8-litre twin-turbo V6 motor is put together by hand by one of a team of eight builders – each team knocking out two units a day. For example, craftsmen precisely match the ports of the intake manifold and cylinder head. So there is minimum disturbance to the airflow, thus increasing performance.Sodium filled valves mean better cooling, while the catalytic converter has been cut by half thanks to a more efficient catalyst. Engine efficiency has been further extended by using a leaner air/fuel mix and optimising valve and ignition timing.Power is put to ground via a six-speed double-clutch transmission and independent transaxle all-wheel drive system. Shift feel and quietness have been refined.An asymmetric suspension has been designed to give bias to the right-hand drive vehicle. It takes into account the weight of the driver – other occupants are ignored, balance being considered only when it really matters, at race track speeds. Also, the prop shaft driving the front wheels in the AWD system is on the right side of the car, again adding right-hand weight bias.Up front are harder spring rates on the left, while out back the rear suspension arm has been fitted upwards on the left and downwards on the right. The result is, with extensive fine tuning on the Nurburgring north circuit (where else?) vertical load on all four tyres has been equalised.Thus, steering response is improved, as is cornering and ride comfort, the last bettered even more by suspension settings switchable between ‘comfort’, ‘normal’ and ‘race track’ by the driver.The latest Nissan GT-R has a stronger body structure to take power and torque increases and improve handling. In conjunction with new Dunlop SP Sport Maxx tyres, developed especially for the GT-R, the driver gets a better feel of road grip transmitted through the steering wheel.A standard 2+2 coupe, there is little leg room in the rear but a 315 litre boot does not skimp for space. Improvements to the cabin include better looking instruments with blue lighting inside the tachometer matching the shift indicator, while a rear-view camera eases limited vision when reversing.The Bose sound system has been given a boost with woofers that were previously only available with the Egoist spec GT-R. Door speakers and woofer in the rear are now mounted on a solid aluminium panel to reduce vibration and improve sound quality.A 300 km-plus drive in Tasmania on roads including several Targa sections produced miles of smiles as the GT-R showed off its wares. We particularly liked the action of the fixed position steering wheel-mounted shift paddles.The sound coming from the dual twin exhausts perfectly matched the way the car was performing and road grip was such that there was a distinct lack of tyre distress on tight bends.All in all, the quality of the experience well matched that enjoyed in sports cars costing a great deal more, a fact backed by the claim that Nissan has found the likes of Aston Martin and Porsche 911 owners also enjoying ownership of GT-Rs. It’s that kind of car.

You can put down well over half a million bucks for a new Ferrari 458 Italia, then add a few options and it shoots over the $600K mark.

GT-R - just muttering this acronym is enough to bring goosebumps to the neck of most motoring enthusiasts.Nissan has had the badge in its arsenal since the late 1960s - with brief appearances here - but the Grand Turismo Racing vehicle that goes on sale this month in Australia is by far the most venomous yet.The GT-R (which also amusingly stands for Ground Transportation Request) has more power, more torque across a wider rev range but with the ability to use less fuel.The price has gone up $2000 for the model-year 2012 GT-R to start from $170,800 - still half the price of opposition equipment with the same performance potential. The latest incarnation of the GT-R has more than 420 representatives on Australian roads - and more than 20,000 examples worldwide since the model's launch in late 2007.Changes are minimal on the surface - the instruments now have blue back-lighting inside the tacho ring, there's now a standard reversing camera. The features list also has dual-zone climate control, leather trimmed and heated front sports seats, two rear sports seats, touchscreen satnav, USB input for the sound system, Bilstein adaptive dampers, Bluetooth phone link, cruise control, keyless entry and ignition.The Bose 11-speaker sound system's woofers have been upgraded to Bose Precision Sound System woofers and the door speakers and rear woofer are now mounted on a solid aluminium die-cast panel to reduce vibration and improve sound quality. The two-door super-coupe is also wearing new nitrogen-filled Dunlop SP Sport Maxx tyres that were developed specifically for the GT-R and Nissan says the updated rubber improves response and ride comfort.The magnificent hand-built twin-turbo V6 has had work done on both the intake and exhaust sides of the engine, with the intake a new resin intake duct and more precise intake system claiming reduced airflow resistance. The exhaust side now has sodium-filled exhaust valves for better cooling and a smaller, lighter exhaust catalyser.The result is a power jump from 390 to 404kW (at 6400rpm) while torque has improved 16Nm to 628Nm between 3200 and 5800rpm (the latter a 600rpm increase). The increases have not come at the expense of fuel consumption, claims Nissan - the company says the 2012 GT-R's ADR-laboratory derived figure for fuel use has dropped from 12 to 11.7l/100km.The six-speed double-clutcher has also been improved, says Nissan, with better shift feel and quietness the result of work on the shift fork arm and the flywheel housing - the drivetrain now also gets a model-specific competition differential oil.While the exterior design hasn't changed, the design of the underpinnings have - to account for the driver's weight on the righthand side, the GT-R's suspension for RHD models has been set asymmetrically, a world-first says the Japanese carmaker.Nissan says in the outgoing car there was a 50kg bias to the right-hand side with an average-sized driver, so the spring rates are slightly altered left-to-right and some components are mounted differently, all of which means an imbalanced wheel load when the car is at a standstill, but which is equalised when underway. The new GT-R is boasting improved steering response, cornering stability and ride comfort. The engineers have also reinforced parts of the engine compartment and repositioned some sensors.Godzilla gets dual front, side and curtain airbags for the front occupants, who will be strapped into the front pews with pre-tensioner and load-limiter equipped seatbelts. There's also anti-lock brakes and the adjustable stability and traction control system (which also has an R-Mode start) and the grip of all-wheel drive, which can send all drive to the rear wheels and up to 50 per cent to the front as required.Godzilla has mutated - in a good way. Nissan’s GT-R has long-worn the movie-monster nickname and the update has given no reasons for it to fade away. The 2012 update has given more power and torque to the already-awesome twin-turbo V6, enough to suggest Nissan Japan claims of 2.8 seconds to 100km/h are feasibleThe coupe leaps away from standstill, slipping quickly between gears with minimal shift shock despite the considerable force being applied through the drivetrain. There’s still some mechanical noise, but it’s more refined, with a roar that’s not ear-splitting but it is addictive. What is also addictive is the part-throttle power delivery - you don’t need to go flat out to appreciate the engine, which has a considerable mid-range. Firing along twisty bitumen, the two-door supercar corners with disdain, both for recommended cornering speed signs and surface changes.Bumps are felt but do little to change the intended line – even dust, cow manure, gravel or other extras on the road surface barely ruffle the GT-R’s composure. Changes to the suspension - designed to compensate for weight on the right hand side, says Nissan - have also had an impact on the ride quality.While it’s far from a boulevarde ride, the sharp impact from bumps felt in previous incarnations has been smoothed over – there’s still a jolt but the cutting thump has been reduced. In comfort mode the ride quality improves noticeably and for most on-road work that’s the setting of choice.Solid body control and tenacious grip mean your internal organs are going to give in before the GT-R does - it’s not hard to see (or feel) how this car gave Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson a crook neck.There’s also a solid, meaty feeling to the steering, which is on the heavier side but feels fitting for this beast of a machine. The awkward rear vision has been offset by the addition of a reversing camera, which is new for 2012.

We all thought the new-generation Nissan GT-R that lobbed here a few years ago was brilliant.Super quick and fast, bristling with clever stuff. Ugly but tough looking — something to aspire to for sure.But then the bar has been raised by the R35-series GT-R, which offers more power, more down force, more grip and more excitement than its predecessors.Nissan engineers have been able to make all of this more accessible to enthusiast drivers, fulfilling the promise of `anyone, any time, anywhere' for its most sporting model.In a major evolution of the model, every aspect of the R35 has been enhanced and improved in its third iteration.Priced at $168,800 it is the most efficient yet. LED daytime running lights,  remodeled bumpers, extended diffuser, new tail-pipe finish and LED fog lamps proclaim the first major revision of the R35 model.Inside, a number of refinements have been made to enhance the sports luxury feel. They include new Recaro-designed seats with heating, new higher-quality finishes for many interior surfaces and softer seat belt material.Subtle exterior revisions have given the GT-R a new look and improved the car's already slippery aerodynamic performance. The GT-R stands out from its predecessors with its 14 per cent larger front grille opening. Downforce has improved by about ten per cent while the car's drag co-efficient has been lowered from 0.27 to just 0.26 Cd a figure most small economy cars would be proud of.Power from the 3.8-litre, twin-turbocharged, V6 engine has been boosted 33kW to 390kW, while maximum torque developed from 3200-6000 revs is now 24Nm more at 612Nm.Optimising this increased power through the R35's six-speed dual clutch transmission and permanent four-wheel-drive system by selecting R-Mode and VDC-R allows the Nissan GT-R to accelerate from 0-100km/h in a blistering 3.0 seconds.Meanwhile recalibrating the engine's control module, modifying the exhaust system and fitting a new catalyst have improved both fuel economy and emissions by 3.5 per cent.A series of subtle, but significant chassis changes to the Nissan GT-R's chassis, including new lightweight aluminium shock absorbers, have sharpened the model's already-impressive handling without any sacrifice in riding comfort.New tyres, lighter wheels and bigger brakes have also enhanced the car's unique supercar driving experience.